I’m surprised that no one has mentioned the Arnoux-Lachaux Pinot Fin . (Full disclosure I am supposed to recuse myself as I am an importer of the brand although I have no reason to promote as we never can get enough to satisfy demand)
made of a grape that only is used by DRC & Arnoux-Lachaux and what is so fascinating is the Cuvee comes from 3 or 4 different appellations - blended together.
I think this is what I assumed you meant by Bourgogne Rouge.
And a few years back we did bring in a few cases of Domaine Leroy Bourgogne Rouge and that was really terrific. I’d not use a word “Great”, I would say “Terrific” or “Fine” or even Very fine.
Ah … the ever elusive hunt for that Burgundy…
IMHO, not really. The gap between good Bourgogne Rouge and an average Village wine is greater tan the gap between a good Village wine and an average 1er Cru. This of course does not include those unicorn Bourgogne rouge that are priced to the moon like that Bizot Bourgogne or 04 Leroy.
+1 on Hudelot-Noellat. I bought cases and cases over the past year from Europe at prices from €14.50-€21. Just can’t get enough. Sadly with Brexit that party may now be over.
They used to make a lieu-dit cuvée from Les Clos Prieur in Gilly-lès-Cîteaux (an area that’s the source of several superior Bourgogne bottling)… now they blend a number of parcels to make just one cuvée. I drank the 1988 and 1989 last year and both were superb, with the 1989 a touch fuller and rounder whereas the 1988 was had a touch less flesh on its bones. Just look at the color of the 1989!
1989 Hudelot-Noëllat Bourgogne by WilliamGFKelley, on Flickr
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The Arnoux-Lachaux Pinot Fin bottling is indeed a wonderful wine, so we’re entirely in agreement about that, but quite a lot of domaines along the Côte have the lower-yielding, smaller-berried, thicker-skinned, high quality selections of Pinot Noir known as “Pinot Fin”, so they’re certainly not a monopoly of DRC or Arnoux!
I guess I drink my Bourgognes too early. But, 31 year old Bourgogne!!! Wow!!!
I did not buy enough 1989s. I had bought a good bit of 1985s, 1988s and 1990s, but only bought a little 1989s. From what I tasted on what I bought, I think I made a mistake.
The original question was can a Bourgogne Rouge be great.
A lot of the thread has veered off into “but there are better wines” which is not an answer to the question Howard put forward.
The logic of there being better wines (and thus BR cannot be great), or some (impossible to quantify) quality gap from BR to Village etc. (and thus BR cannot be great) would leave us with the possibility that there can only be a single, great wine. Village wines cannot be great because there is 1er Cru. 1er Cru cannot be great because there is Grand Cru. Ruchottes cannot be great because there is Musigny, and so on.
Drank 17 on Thu
It seems the best Bourgogne Rouges I have had have been “declassified” from other appellations.
A 1985 Bourgogne Rouge from Henri Jayer still stands out as the greatest Bourgogne Rouge I have ever tasted. Various vintages from Leroy have also been exceptional as well as a couple vintages from Dugay-Py.
i think the only answer to this, as always, is it depends. mostly on the definition of great. does great have to be really cerebral? or can it be just about pure drinking joy? sometimes it even depends on mood. a “great” super complex wine might not come across as great if i just want something that brings pleasure in the moment and i dont have to think about.
I personally define it in a way that would make your OP wine great. if I get a ton of joy or enjoyment from drinking a wine, thats a great wine. really good wines can be great wines when matched to the right situation, food, company, mood, etc in my opinion-- in fact i think ALL those things have to line up for a wine to be experienced as great, no matter what wine it is.
Many seem to thing Bourgogne rouge is by definition simple and thus while potentially being delicious, can’t qualify as great.
I am far from certain of the premise though. I’ve had many Bourgognes that I would not have blindly called Bourgogne, mostly because of their complexity. Most are listed in this thread. I see no reason why a Bourgogne can’t be great. Especially in this warmer period, where areas that formerly didn’t ripen consistently, now do.
That said, when buying Bourgogne, I generally look for a combination of affordablity and enjoyability in their youth. Greatness is a big ask. Fourrier and Hudelot Noellat meet my criteria pretty well.
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I drank a bottle of Chevillon-Chezeaux Bourgogne '09 over a few days, and it was delightful.
Still plenty of pretty red fruits to accompany nice savory notes and some fairly fine grained tannin.
It just got better and better with time, the aromatics really singing on the second night. As an overall package of pleasure and complexity, an outstanding value at $22 retail many moons ago.
Whilst I wouldn’t try to say that it is some apex of what Burgundy can achieve, it certainly is a wonderful wine that illustrates the potential longevity and value to be had for even mediocre producers in a good vintage.
I’d concur in saying that warmer years definitely seem to favor red Bourgogne level wines, most often from richer/deeper/more clay dominant sites. The combo of climate change and evolved winegrowing practices are likely making more outstanding Bourgogne rouge than ever…